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Freezing rain could pose danger for Wednesday morning commute

It isn’t the threat of snow that prompted the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory for all of Western and Central New York overnight. It’s something even more treacherous – freezing rain.

Meteorologists say that a surge of warm, moist air from the southwest is expected to move in above cooler air closer to the ground, setting off a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain. Though forecasters believe that it will result in only a thin layer of ice, it promises to make driving difficult Wednesday morning.

But the ice won’t stick around. It’s due to melt later Wednesday. The incoming storm is expected to push temperatures into the upper 30s and produce heavy rains and perhaps even a thunderstorm, driven by wind gusting up to more than 30 mph. One to two inches of rain are possible. Colder air will follow on Thursday, with the potential for an inch or two of lake-enhanced snow.